Bomb Hoax Causes Broken Bones, Head Wounds Aboard Lion Air Flight

Air travelers suffered broken bones, head wounds and other serious injuries prior to takeoff when a man on a Lion Air flight falsely claimed to have a bomb – resulting in a stampede of panicked passengers.

A Lion Air passengers’s bomb threat turned out to be a hoax, but the resulting panic on the plane preparing to depart from Supadio International Airport (PNK) ended up being dangerous enough in its own right. Nearly a dozen flyers were taken to the hospital after being hurt in the frenzied rush to escape the aircraft.

According to the South China Morning Post, at least eleven of the 189 passengers on the flight were taken to the hospital on Monday evening with injuries that ranged from broken bones to head wounds. Police say the wild rush started after one passenger on the flight overheard a fellow traveler tell a flight attendant that he had a bomb. Passengers reportedly ignored crew instructions and were soon opening exit doors, climbing onto the wings and in some cases jumping from the Boeing 737 onto the tarmac below in a mad dash to flee the aircraft.

Airline officials say the injuries, confusion and disorderly behavior were entirely unnecessary as it appears that the threatening passenger was simply making an unfortunate and highly inappropriate joke. Lion Air spokesperson Danang Mandala told the newspaper that the “bomb joke” was no excuse for passengers ignoring crew member instructions by opening the emergency doors and jumping from the plane.

According to the airline, even though there were no suspicious items found on the aircraft after a thorough inspection, the flight was still delayed for several hours because the emergency doors had been unnecessarily deployed by passengers. The flight eventually departed for Jakarta Soekarno–Hatta International Airport (CGK) more than three hours behind schedule.

Passenger Frantinus Nirigi, the man who allegedly made the ill-advised bomb joke, was not on the plane when it finally took off. Authorities say the 26-year-old was arrested and now faces a sentence of as many as eight years behind bars for the poorly timed wisecrack.

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